Blunt voters steer debate

Christi Parsons and John McCormick, Tribune staff reporters: Christi Parsons reported from Charleston, S.C., and John McCormick reported from Chicago

Democratic candidates for president took some of the most direct, unvarnished and at times rude questions of the race at their Monday night debate, thanks to a new format that put the questioning in the hands of American voters who sent in home videos through the Internet.

Is Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) authentically black? Is Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) sufficiently feminine by American standards, or so feminine that Arab leaders could never take her seriously?

Is former Sen. John Edwards (D- N.C.) emulating historic racists by using his Baptist upbringing as an explanation for his position on gay marriage? Would he support reparations for slavery or just be "dipping and dodging" the question?

In the style of practiced debaters, the Democrats received the questions graciously -- thanking the questioners for even the most cutting of inquiries -- and then generally tried to reframe them to fit their talking points.

But something else happened at the so-called YouTube Debate on CNN, the first ever in which questions were posed by people who sent in their questions via the Google-owned site in the form of home videos.

Candidates gave a few answers previously unheard in this long summer of debates and forums, on an array of topics that Americans evidently think about but which panelists rarely broach in the button-down format of the traditional debate.

Highlights included Obama asserting that he never has to explain how black he is when trying to catch a cab. Clinton said she wouldn't use the word "liberal" to describe her politics but rather prefers the term "progressive."

Edwards said he feels "enormous conflict" as he wrestles with his religious faith and his feelings about gay marriage, which he does not support. The question came from a black minister who pointed out that religion was used to justify slavery, segregation and denying women the right to vote, and then said, "Why is it still acceptable to use religion to deny gay Americans their full and equal rights?"

Previously unasked questions

All of the eight candidates except Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D- Ohio) said they do not support reparations for the descendants of American slaves, and everyone on the stage said they think it's a good idea for young women to register for the draft at age 18 just as their male peers must. None supports the institution of a draft.

The candidates have met several times throughout the spring and summer, and while there had been a few unscripted moments along the way the meetings were mostly staid and traditional.

But the citizen-panelists asked questions that haven't come up in public much before, and candidates answered many of them fairly directly.

Clinton listed some of the many nations she visited as first lady when she was asked by a U.S. soldier serving in Japan whether leaders in Islamic nations, where women are often relegated to subservient roles, would take her seriously.

"I believe that there isn't much doubt in anyone's mind that I can be taken seriously," she said. "Other countries have had women presidents and prime ministers."

Clinton offered an answer with more nuance than Obama when asked whether they would be willing to meet separately, without preconditions, during the first year of their administrations with leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.

"I would," Obama said. "The notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them, which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration, is ridiculous."

Clinton said she would not offer to talk so quickly.

"I will promise a very vigorous diplomatic effort because I think it is not that you promise a meeting at that high a level before you know what the intentions are," she said. "I don't want to be used for propaganda purposes. I don't want to make a situation even worse."

The parents on the stage were asked about whether they have sent their children to public or private schools and how they have talked to them about sex.

Edwards said his children have all attended public schools. Clinton said her daughter, Chelsea, went to public school through 8th grade, when the family's move to Washington required sending her to a private school because it offered more protection from the media.

"My kids have gone to the University of Chicago Lab School, a private school, because I taught there," Obama responded. "It was five minutes from our house. So it was the best option for our kids."

Obama on sex ed spat

Obama was also forced to address a small controversy that broke out last week, after Republican Mitt Romney questioned his past support of age-appropriate sex education for kindergarten.

"Ironically, this was actually a proposal he said he supported when he was running for governor of Massachusetts. Apparently he forgot," Obama said, adding that he has talked to his daughters, ages 6 and 9, about inappropriate touching.

"I want them to know if somebody is doing something wrong to them, encroaching on their privacy, that they should come talk to me or my wife," he said. "We've had that conversation, but not every parent is going to have that conversation with their child."

Although the questions from voters drove the debate, candidates also tried to bring up their own agendas.

A heated discussion broke out among the candidates over just how quickly troops could reasonably be pulled out of Iraq, after Gov. Bill Richardson suggested he would like them out in six months.

"There is not a single military man in this audience who will tell this senator he can get those troops out in six months if the order goes today," Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) said.

Clinton agreed, saying it will take time to withdraw forces.

"They're not even planning for that in the Pentagon," she said. "Yes, we want to begin moving the troops out, but we want to do so safely, and orderly and carefully."